Tradition
by Lioness-Goddess
Summary: When the TMNT discover that Christmas is no longer celebrated in 2105, it is up to them to educate Cody about tradition. Fast Forward fic.


A/N: I must say, I was a little wary of FF at first, but it has grown on me. Cody still bugs me a little bit, and I hope I've managed to flesh him out a bit more here.

Cody Jones stood in the corner, arms crossed, a puzzled look on his face. In front of him, an orange-banded turtle was pinning up brightly colored balls and lights in any window he could find.

"Um, what is he doing?" Cody asked as Leonardo passed him.

"Hm?" Leo turned to see what Mikey was doing and laughed, "Oh, don't mind him. He's just excited. There's only a week until Christmas, and Mikey loves Christmas."

"Oh…" Cody winced as Michelangelo belted out snippets of various carols, molding a whole new carol all together. "But Christmas hasn't been celebrated for about eighty years."

"What!?"

In an instant, Cody had the youngest turtle brother gripping him by the arms, shaking him back and forth. "What the shell do you mean there's no Christmas? What!? This is a pretty sick joke, Cody!"

"No joke," the preteen held up his hands, "With so many religions and beliefs, especially once aliens were made legal, it was just easier to do away with it to prevent any more religious wars. It's the same with Hanukkah, Easter…anything like that."

"How can you not celebrate Christmas!?" Mikey still refused to believe it. "It's not only about religion! It's about being together and being generous and..and…Leo, help me out!"

"Mike's right," Leo shrugged.

"What's this about Christmas now?" Raph asked, entering with Donatello not far behind. "You know we've still got a week to go, Mikey."

"Apparently, they don't celebrate Christmas anymore," Mike said sourly. "Cuz of religious disagreements or whatever."

Don raised an eyeridge. "That doesn't seem very logical.."

"That's bull!" Raph exclaimed.

Cody blinked, uncomprehending.

"Perhaps Cody would understand better if we showed him," Master Splinter suggested, having heard the whole thing. "After all, being from 2006, we are most certainly experts on the subject. Christmas is something that must be experienced – not explained."

All four brothers looked at each other. "He's right." Don said, "We should show Cody. He doesn't know what he's missing."

Cody spread his hands. "I'm willing to learn."

Mikey wrapped an arm around the redhead's shoulders. "And I am so ready to teach."

The next morning, Cody woke up to Michelangelo baking cookies in the kitchen with Serling anxiously readying the fire extinguisher. When Cody asked why Mike had decided to bake cookies, Mike responded with, "Because it's Christmas."

The day after that, Cody watched the four brothers carefully bring in a synthetic tree they had gotten from who-knows-where and decorate it with whatever they could find. When they were asked why, Donatello responded with a lengthy explanation of pagan tree decorating ceremonies. And "because it's a Christmas thing."

Three days later, Raphael patiently watched while Michelangelo bounced off the walls and did everything that would normally annoy him. When Cody asked the red-masked turtle why he was not in fact annoyed, Raph told him, "Because it's Christmas, stupid."

On Christmas Eve, all the lights in the living area save for a few strategically placed candles were out. The small family was gathered around the tree, the turtles on the floor while Splinter reclined in an armchair. They all looked up when Cody entered.

"Hey, grab some floor and join us," Mikey greeted warmly. Cody immediately sat down next to the orange-clad turtle, and got a shock when a red-and-gold wrapped box was plopped into his lap.

"You guys got me a present?" Cody asked, shocked. "But I didn't get you anything."

"It is alright," Splinter explained. "We do not require anything from you. The point is that we are all together and well. But we wanted you to get the full experience of Christmas. Do you understand now?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I do," Cody said, beaming. "Thanks. For everything."

"Come on, come on," Mikey laughed, nudging their friend, "open your present already!"

Cody turned his attention to the box in his lap, and for the first time in eighty years, Christmas was celebrated once more.


End file.
